Orpheus

[storme]

Pale musk, green mandarin, neroli, benzoin, citrus peel, blue lavender, narcissus, stephanotis, crushed green stems, willow branch and cedar.

 

In the imp: very green and herbal, with a jag of lavender and neroli too.

 

On me, wet: oooh, that warmed up nicely on my skin, sweetening and softening and smoothing out to a beautiful creamy floral. Beautiful.

On me, dry: Hmm, and the citrus and the woods have really come forward, but wit the greenery and floral it smells a bit.. false, I guess.

Verdict: doesn't quite gel into a scent I'd wear, and the SO didn't like it either.

[theseagrows]

this is a very nice citrus-herbal on my skin. i definitely get the green mandarin and crushed green stems the strongest. also a herbal-sweet floral seems to be in there. this reminds me (along with empyreal mist) A LOT of calyx by prescriptives. except i like this better because it isn't as cloying. it's fresh and i also think it's capable of being a unisex scent.

[steelxrose]

Orpheus

 

In the bottle it smells a bit woody. Scared? You bet. I'm not fond of cedar. At. All.

 

Upon dabbing on skin, the fruits come out to play. Yay! A sweet, fruity blend. And lasting time! I think I got whiffs of myself for the whole workday. Not to mention that I couldn't stop sniffing my elbow. A definite "love this" from me.

Possible 5mL later on.

[grashopper8]

This is very green and herbal but doesn't ever become "sharp." The citrus and neroli come out first, and then calm down into the background. I am not picking out lavender, but my brain keeps saying "herbal," so I'll stick with that. It's aquatic and fresh and clean, and as it dries down more, it softens.

 

I like it, even though it's not really my style. 3.8 out of 5

[hkhm]

imp: very sharp floral/gteen scent, smells very similar to irish spring to me.

 

wet: nicer once applies, a strong herby floral. i can't pick out any distinct notes.

 

dry: this still has a sharp, green, herbal bite to it along with the florals.

[angelslurry]

Oh wow. WOW. I think I'm in love. Only the second Salon scent I've tried and I do believe I love it.

 

It begins fresh and herbal on my arm, then warms and blooms into something incredibly lulling and alluring. I want to be patient and wait it out to see how it dries down and fades but I can't stop lifting my arm to sniff it every few seconds (geez this is taking forever to type! )

 

...okay, okay, it's starting to show an edge of soap, I think I can quit with the mad sniffing tic. Okay, not completely, but at least I can start making sense of the notes--definitely picking out the citrus, and only the tiniest pinch of lavender, maybe some cedar.

 

This was a decant bought on forum so I'm not sure of its age, but it's a nice stage whatever it is, so I think I might go for the bottle.

 

Edit to editorialize: while I don't think it's "golden" enough to resemble the painting, it's actually quite fitting to David Sylvian's "Orpheus" on the album Secrets of the Beehive. Beautiful and haunting.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Angel Slurry

[tartchef]

My husband gave this a whirl last night... now granted, he did apply a bit more than usual (3 full swipes from the imp), but still - whoa, talk about throw! I could literally track his movements throughout the house... It's a very crisp, classic green-&-woods-cologne scent on him, with the citrus & florals adding an interesting layer. It would suit a man a bit more... formal than my husband. A man more inclined to expensive shoes & sleek cars... Orpheus is quite nice, fresh & sophisticated, but ultimately it doesn't mesh well with J's overall personality.

 

On my skin, it's piercing bitter man-fume

[gchris]

In Vial: Very green, smells like grass and something bitter

 

Wet: Green grass and lavender. I'm getting a hint of the citrus peel and something slightly sweet

 

Later: This has turned out to be more perfumey than I expected, but the with a green grassy background. This smells like a commercial perfume, it is feminine. I haven't decided whether I want a bottle but definitely like enough to use my imp.

Edited March 21, 2008 by gchris

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Green, fresh, soapy, sharp.

 

Wet: SOAP, from the neroli no doubt. Lavender, too, very strongly. Resin. Strong green planty notes.

 

Dry: Lavendery soap. Had to wash off; it smelled like some sort of cleaning product.

 

Sigh, and the notes sounded so lovely!

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Peachy, fruity greenness.

 

Wet: Citrusy green with what smells like heady lilac, even though there is none in the blend, fresh peppery florals coming through.

 

After a few minutes on skin: Strong, overpowering, almost stomach turning florals with a hint of citrus and faint tantalizing hints of greenness. No lavender in sight. Starting to get a hint of something bitter amidst the greens...

 

After first hour: This is making my eyes irritated slightly. I think something in this is not agreeing with me, and the bitter note is increasing. Hubby likes this one, which I would so far rank as probably my least favourite after Wilde. Talk about divergent tastes.

 

After two and a half hours: Bitter herbs and overly sweet, syrupy citrus, accompanied by cloying florals. Now hubby says he's getting a headache from it, and I'm feeling a bit of one myself. I'm also starting to be able to *taste* this scent because it is so overpowering. I feel like I've drank some, and I know I haven't. Ugh.

 

After 5 hours: The bitter note is still there along with the syrupy citrus and the faint powderiness of musk.

 

Final Verdict: After 5 hours this has finally gotten to a throw level and a scent level that is tolerable. It's vaguely pleasant, and has saved itself from a place in my bottom ten, but it is nowhere near my top ten.

[inurbanus]

For the first fifteen minutes of Orpheus, the crushed green stems are really prominent. They smelled strong and bitter, and reminded me of walking through a field on a hot summer day. I really liked this stage -- it was similar to the pond water smell at the beginning of The Black Swan. Eventually, the citrus fruits took over and Orpheus became very fruity. The perfume developed a commercial vibe. I immediately thought of DKNY Be Delicious (which is a favorite of mine) or something from Escada. I was really surprised by how much I liked this. I think I see a bottle of this in my future.

 

4.5/5

[greenranger]

It starts off all crushed green stems.

 

The scent is staying very very green and fresh.

[lacyjae]

I'm not sure what I was looking for when I picked some Salon decants to try, Orpheus seems kind of random, and I wonder if I didn't throw it in just to have three Salons. Am I ever glad that I listened to whatever told me to pick it, though!!

 

Sweet, so sweet, like nuzzling my face into flower blossoms. A hint of green. Oh, delicious. On my skin, it's all green stems and flowers, an incredibly nice, spring/summer scent of the great bunch of flowers you've just broken from their stems to give to your love. Oh, wonderful.

 

I am definitely in love with this scent, and must get a bottle. I was not expecting that!

[taramarie]

In the imp, I get just the green stems. On my skin, it's that plus the mandarin, neroli, and citrus peel over the musk. This is neutral and very nice.

[WidgetAlley]

Bottle: This smells, to me, almost exactly freshly crushed grass-- green and pale blue, herbal and pleasant and cool. I can smell sap and a little beautiful blue lavender. Kind of milky, kind of sharp, kind of herbal-spicy. Gorgeous.

 

Wet: At first this vaguely sweet, still a little milky, but now fruitier-- the green mandarin, neroli and more of that incredible lavender. It's a little bit soapy, a touch manly, but cool and sweet and fresh, too. This would be great to wear to my summer job in a greenhouse!

 

Dry: The florals in this are trying quite hard to turn soapy, but are being held in place quite well by the lavender and "wet green stems". Overall, this is cool and lush and beautiful, like a spring morning just before dawn. It's not at all an aquatic, but does give the impression of dew-kissed greenery. Perfectly unisex. Very soothing and whimsical-- like the music of Orpheus himself. This, I think, is a gem largely undiscovered by herb-lovers.

[Kimbernunk]

In the bottle, it's extremely herbal; the stems/lavender scents are really prominent.

Wet, I keep getting whiffs of neroli, which I adore. I love this stage. My partner thinks I smell like dish soap, which I find laughable because whatever random dish soap we have right now (some Palmolive 'fresh' stuff, IIRC) smells like ozone and flowers, and much more like a commercial perfume than the lovely lovely neroli wafting off my arm.

Dry, there's an orange component, something slighly herbal and almost grassy, and just enough musk to keep everything present on my skin.

 

This is just glorious, and has earned itself an immediate spot in my top 10.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: This smells like I have just stuck my face in a fresh honeysuckle flower. The kind you find back home growing on the backyard fence in NC.

 

Drydown: It smells just like perfumed Honeysuckle. This is gorgeous. I will wear this when I want to feel dainty and feminine.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: green and sharp. Almost medicinal but not too offensive

Wet on Me: Oh yeah…total green but clean fresh crisp green in the best of ways

Drying Down: green and peeps of floral dancing in. Green is getting its swerve on with some flowers GO ON GREEN!

Dry: this blended into the lush green of a summer’s evening. Now hard to pick just ONE note..thisis allgreen and lush and dancing with flowers…..aaaahhhhh the lovely

 

[JenM]

in the imp: oh, so very musky. Not unplesasantly so, but I'm not used to musky scents, so it's hard to get past that. I can just get a hint of the citrus and neroli notes, and maybe the vaguest suggestion of green.

 

on the wrist: very green. And yet exotiox at the same time. Odd. I don't usually think of the two adjectives in the same context.

 

This morphs into a surprisingly delicate scent. A green floral. It has little to no throw, and the musk has faded almost completely. An hour and a half later, this subtle scent has quite the staying power (on the left wrist, anyway). I've put it as low as 6/10 just because there isn't anything to make it stand out from the dozens of other delicate florals I've got--not the water of Pool of Tears, nor the sizzling metal of Kataniya.

[HKB]

First impression: woodsy and floral but masculine.

Then a clean, fresh smell. There's lots going on and I cannot pick out what note is what, very interesting and layered and constantly morphing early on.

Something slightly aquatic in there too, I can just barely make out the citrus. Then I smell wood.

Dries down to a clean, vaguely citrusy, barely floral wood smell.

Nice, but not sure if I'm moved to get a bottle.

 

Edit: I tried this again and changed my mind. It's so different from any other BPAL I've tried, I think I would probably get a bottle.

Edited September 27, 2009 by HKB

[ouch!]

I like this one...yes I do!

 

It smells green green and stemmy and a bit perfumey at first with a slight hint of citrus. It's one of those oils that makes you feel clean and refreshed.

It's like a more grown up version of Green Phoenix what I mean by grown up is..there's a pefumey element to this wheras GP was all fresh and light and gawwwjus!!

 

This is all in the opening of the perfume.

 

During drydown this get's much stronger and much more perfumey, it's starting to smell more classic now, and alot more like an expensive department store perfume, the greeny ness has gone!

It's turning more floral and pungent but in a good way!!!

 

It gets stronger still as it dries but the smell is still the same. Where is this coming from? It started out as a fresh green soft scent that smelled like shampoo and now it's a full on in your face floral.

 

Interesting.

 

 

[SophieCedar]

Very bright and green.

 

Wet: the lavender is off on a running start then mellows through the citrus and neroli. Very green. this is a perfect pick me up.

 

Drydown: narcissus, green stems, willow and cedar pop out slowly. My skin is singing along. Amazing.

 

I love using this as my cheery morning scent. Wakes me up, keeps me happy. I really couldn't ask for more out of a scent in this category; especially considering how finicky I am about green and citrus.

[Tal Shachar]

I've been thinking for awhile that I just can't wear anything with orange or neroli in it unless I want to smell like 100% citrus with no other notes. Orpheus proves me wrong: green mandarin, neroli, and citrus peel, but they don't take over the scent and turn it into Tropicana. I'm not even sure I'd recognise them as "orange" if I didn't know the list of notes--the lavender and grassy notes are far more prominent. I can even make out the slight salicylic bitterness of the willow. I love green scents and every time I pick one up I think, "Why don't I wear these every single morning?"

 

No sign of cedar or benzoin, but my skin doesn't really amp those, and I think they're still present in the sense of making the scent last; it goes a lot longer than something with so many sharp, clean top notes ordinarily would. It's not musky or masculine at all on me, just a clean unisex scent.

[ramblingrambler]

Just got this in from the Lab's eBay a couple days ago and made this mistake of wearing it bright and early to start my day.'if. O thing else, this scent is the scent of sleep and dreams—I woke up not too long ago bright and refreshed, and all I want to do is return to bed and sleep the day away... a very bad idea since I have lots of work waiting for me on the first day back to my job after Hurricane Irma came through. I can't make any notes out alone, but this is a cool, relaxing scent, and it feels like what I imagine drinking cool chamomile before bed would feel like.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: green citrus blend. It's a bright, cheerful scent: I'm getting the citruses in equal measure, followed by the stems, all wrapped up in the lavender and narcissus. The lavender in particular isn't the sharp herbal lavender, so it plays really well with the rest of the notes.

Wet on skin: the citruses and narcissus kind of amp up on my skin, almost fighting for dominance. The result is a bit of a heady cacophony, and makes it difficult to keep sniffing...a little more of this and I'd probably get a headache. And it reminds me of the reasons why I don't particularly like mainstream commercial perfume.

Dry: all the citruses have run off, and it's actually a very pleasant cold yellow floral sort of scent. I like this final stage very much--low throw, stays close to skin, but very clean, very fresh, very cheering sort of blend. The benzoin and musk definitely come in and cream and soften the scent up a fair amount, but that pleasing brightness is still there, mostly lavender that is yellow-tinged. About an hour on, what's left is a pleasant clean floral.

Verdict: I am quite in love with the final stage of this scent, but I do have a few similar-feel blends and the wet stage just almost scared me off. I can envision myself thinking "why in the world did I keep this" every time I put it on. While I don't mind it staying around, I can afford to let this one go.